OnTheJourney

Wow...I had a pic taken of one of our waiters on a RCCL ship back in March, but I didn't ask him to remove his mask - he did it on his own. Makes sense that what you're referring to could surely lead to additional cases, but I deem it more likely that it's attributable to pax not being masked, plus probably the relaxed (more like eliminated) testing protocol. I wasn't real fond of spitting in a tube every morning, but if cases are going to start reappearing in greater numbers, maybe they should reinstate - at least testing prior to embarkation. That would seem to make sense.

Oh Lordy.....how digital media has indeed changed the world. Anyway, thanks to several posters here for clarification, since I questioned it recently. I'm not a FB member.

?? I'll simply take your word for it....lol

I can imagine it, but it wouldn't be my first choice! As you undoubtedly know, trying to predict covid policies is like trying to nail down a blob of mercury. Noone has any clue what might be taking place even a few months from now, let alone next year. I share your concerns, having another international cruise booked for January. Got lucky with the recent one back in May. All we can do is hope for the best. If covid were to get really bad again, it's possible the cruise lines will be lenient with cancellation / rebookings, though I wouldn't count on it.

Sounds good! Glad it all worked out for you.

Different situation. The chairman's cruise also came with free air but I upgraded to PE. You and I both already had an air component on the booking.

What's with this? I've heard this before...what is the site and why it is not to be named? Something too politically controversial or such? If it's that egregious is whatever manner, why hasn't it simply been removed?

Wow....bummer. Given the apparent uptick in covid, it wouldn't surprise me if the ol' spit tubes reappear fairly soon, especially if cases are showing up.

Wow...you guys are still going. 2,535 pages. Astounding. Haven't been on CC for a bit so figured this thread was still chugging away. Have to wonder....will this turn out to the longest ever on CC? Will it go on for AS LONG as CC is even still here??!?!?!

Too many trips booked to try and fit a river cruise in yet in conjunction with our January V. cruise! Have never done a river trip with V. It's somewhere on the bucket list, just not sure where anymore.

I've always preferred to do my own air, but it's just that in this crazy environment I like the idea of having all the money under Viking via risk-free. Paying more through them goes against me as well. I like to know exactly what seats I'm buying.

Recently finished the Chairman's cruise and did the Barcelona post-extension. Viking used the Nobu Hotel - very near the train station - probably not the best location for handy sightseeing but was a very nice hotel. Breakfast each morning was on the top (23rd) floor with an outstanding view of the city.

I think I'm just going to stick to B-class for long haul going forward. Life is short.

We used Argentine airlines and had an amazingly low price on business class (trip was not through Viking).

Exactly. When we were down there, we had an absolutely beautiful (and even rather warm) day at Port Stanley; however, one of the shopkeepers I spoke with said that had we been scheduled to arrive there the day before, the conditions were so bad that we wouldn't have been able to come into port. Yep...luck of the draw. You can get "drake shake" or "drake lake" and everything in between. We were, once again, amazingly fortunate to have smooth sailing going both ways. Seriously, it felt like sailing in the Caribbean. lol. It took me YEARS (more like a few decades) just to convince myself to actually go. Every time I'd seriously look at itineraries, I got cold feet thinking about how bad it could get. Figured it's either go or not go. I'd love to go back, but how lucky could I be the 2nd time around?! My advice...go....lfe is short. It's a pretty amazing place down there. Seeing the Cape Horn Monument alone was an awesome experience. Then, of course, there are the penguins! Loved all the iceberg shapes too. Along with Barrow, AL, it remains among the most unique places we've ever been to.

We upgraded the (free) economy air for the Chairman's cruise, and, going over to Rome it truly was very nice - United's "premium plus" - and so expected similar coming home. What a disappointment. The "premium economy" out of Barcelona was pretty crappy - same food as economy, no nice headsets or pillow. Only difference from economy was a slightly larger seat. No difference in the seating configuration with the rest of economy either - 2-4-2. I complained to United and they gave us $100 each. Of course, P-E can vary depending on airline and plane. SAS is really nice cause it includes B-class lounge access.

I'll definitely check with them again soon - just haven't gotten around to looking at itineraries. I'd like to have an idea what I want before I call them. However, I was told that there's no way there'd come up with an itinerary for me at the present time - but that was one agent's opinion. So I guess I could wind up paying for B-class and yet not having any idea what it'll wind up being. That just goes against me but might be the way they do it. I never actually spoke to anyone in the air dept. I agree on not waiting. When I book my own longhaul air, I often had it booked 7-8 months out. Right now I'm about 7 months out from the cruise. I did....as was already mentioned, V is the lowest on ocean.

FC....thanks. I looked that over and came across the following: Apparently this is not the case right now though? I expected something like having to pay the $100-150 so as to at least then include the capability of adding an air component, but didn't expect to have to make a choice of economy, premium, or business right away. I will contact them - just haven't had the time past few days. Early flight itinerary selection, as early as 310 days prior to your cruise end date

I'm going to call them once I look at and decide on an itinerary that looks good. The worst that can happen is they can say they can't do anything that far out at the present time.

That's what I expected but not what I was told. It was like - choose which of the three price classes you want and pay for it immediately in order to add air to the booking. I was rather dumbfounded. Didn't make any sense. I remain totally confused on how the thing is supposed to work.

I'll have to try again, calling Viking air directly - if they tell me they can't help me right now due to serving those with upcoming trips within 60 days, that's fine. But I want to have specific itineraries chosen before I call them. Thanks for all the info!

Wow....can't say I ever went through that much trouble to make a call! Nope....not familiar with that LOL....to quote Indiana Jones, "it's not the years, it's the mileage" For sure! I'm still astounded at every time I transfer pics and videos to my small external hard drive - considering that a thing that size can hold a few terabytes of info - the equivalent of probably a really large room full of hard copies. Other things too - cars with navigational systems that talk to you (I've yet to buy one of those - so far have never bought a car manufactured in the 21st century - talk about dating myself), being able to (for an exhorbitant cost) actually take a short trip in space, AI, drones, DNA testing, 3D printers, etc. And the rate of technological change just continues to exponentiate. My wife worked in a local hardware store during the 70s, and when the Atari video game "pong" came out and hit the shelves, she assumed that such a thing would never sell or catch on! 😁 Virtual reality, too. I've no doubt that someday the "holodeck" idea ala Star Trek TNG will be a commonplace thing - probably even in peoples' homes, thus rendering archaic the current home theatre setup. I often think about how much easier it is for musicians nowadays to sell their stuff on digital streaming platforms compared to back in the day where you had to drive to the store and buy a record! Can you imagine telling kids today the old phrase, "you sound like a broken record"....say what? Gotta admit, when I transfer LPs to digital I still like hearing those pops and crackles that are part of well-used vinyl recordings. What can I say, old school....still have my '76 turntable, receiver, and speakers - and cabinets full of VHS and CDs.

LOL....when I was still teaching the one duty was monitoring the kids as they either arrived in the morning or at afternoon dismissal. I was a bit shocked to see a good number of 3rd and 4th graders pop open a cell phone nearly as soon as they left the building, and that was about 15 years ago - can only suppose that just about every kid has one by now. I can remember when I was in college in the 70s waiting in line to use the pay phone at the end of the hall in the dorm to make a call...wow....talk about retro! Kids today can't even imagine how it was. As you said, no instantaneous communication, no internet, etc. My grandfather, during his lifetime, saw some amazing changes - from horse and buggy on the farm to the space age.

Indeed we greatly enjoyed Barcelona! Once again, having never been anywhere in Spain, it was most exciting to see a new place. We had booked a private tour through Viator and so got to see Park Guell along with the Sagrada - both pretty amazing. Since the tour didn't take us back to the hotel, we used the HOHO bus to do some additional sightseeing. One of the stops was at the train station - right next to the hotel. Actually, another look at the pics shows that it was pretty much just of our table. Yours is visible in the pic as well but hard to make out who everyone is.

Most encouraging. I don't mind paying the money upfront if it's worth it for flexibility in scheduling, etc.